The first collection of classic and contemporary German-language science fiction in English

This entertaining anthology delivers great reading and an overview of German-language science fiction, including works by the “German father of science fiction” Kurd Lasswitz, the Austrian writer Ludwig Hevesi (author of “Jules Verne in Hell”), the fantasist Paul Scheerbart (a scurrilous, idiosyncratic writer who was an outsider in both literature and science fiction), popular writers Otto Willi Gail and Hans Dominik, as well as the contemporary luminaries of the genre: Wolfgang Jeschke, Herbert W. Franke, Andreas Eschbach, and Carl Amery. The introduction by the editor gives a succinct history of German language science fiction, including its representation in Hugo Gernsback’s popular magazines. With select bibliographies of German language science fiction and writings on German science fiction, this book will be appreciated by scholars and general readers alike.

“Mike Mitchell’s versatile and even brilliant translations do a wonderful job of giving us the flavor of early science fiction as well as the sophistication and style of the later stories.”—Gary Wolfe, author of The Known and the Unknown

“Rottensteiner’s analyses and commentary are authoritative, not to mention highly readable.”—James Gunn, director, University of Kansas Center for the Study of Science Fiction

FRANZ ROTTENSTEINER has written and edited many books in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, including The Fantasy Book: An Illustrated History from Dracula to Tolkien (1978), View From Another Shore: European Science Fiction (1999), and The Best of Austrian Science Fiction (2001). He lives in Vienna, Austria. MIKE MITCHELL has translated over 50 books. He was awarded the Schlegel-Tieck Prize for his translation of Herbert Rosendorfer’s Letters Back to Ancient China (1997) and lives in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland.